


Hold The Line

by AXEe



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, F/M, General Danvers as Jaeger pilots (obviously), I am such a nerd, I've been wanting to do this ever since i saw the movie, Karaolsen as Jaeager pilots, Major Nerd as Jaeger pilots, Pacific Rim AU, The DEO as the PPDC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-11-07 03:13:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11050119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: There are things you can't fight.  Acts of God.  You see a hurricane coming, you get out of the way.  But in order to fight monsters we created monsters of our own.The Jaegers.ORA General Danvers, Karaolsen, Major Nerd Pacific Rim fusion AU :=)





	1. Prolouge: Seattle Has Fallen

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Another General Danvers/Karaolsen/Major Nerd fic from me, this time we're doing a _Pacific Rim_ fusion AU, why, you ask? Well, because I'm big giant nerd and I really like this movie and I wanted to do a fusion AU, that's why! :=), now this fic won't completely follow the movie's plot (although there will be some similarities, like the plan to seal the Breach, Hank not wanting Alex to pilot a Jaeger, Astra as the broken member of the cast) but with some differences, one being that none of our three Jaeger teams die
> 
> Anyway, enjoy! :=)

******

**Kaiju--(Japanese: 'strange beast')**

**Jaeger--(German: 'Hunter')**

******

**Seattle, 2015**  
**Kaiju War--year two**

"Move! Move," Astra pushed her way through the panicking crowd of people, moving _away_ from the anti-Kaiju shelter out into the city proper "Alura?!" she called out, eyes searching the crowd, even though she knew that her voice was most likely being drowned out by the anti-Kaiju sirens and the roars of the creature itself.

She glanced up at a crash, watching as the Category 2 Kaiju, codenamed 'Rozz' by the PPDC, smashed through a building, which meant that it breached the ten mile limit, the so-called 'Miracle Mile'. Looking past the beast, Astra could see a Jaeger out in the middle of Puget Sound, burning, its crew most likely dead.

She wasn't even suppose to be here, she thought as she pushed through the crowd, she'd been on leave from Edwards Airbase visiting her sister and her niece when the sirens went off and a Category 2 Kaiju burst out of the water and began to march towards Puget Sound. Now she was frantically pushing her way back through the crowd, she needed to find Alura. to find Kara, she wasn't an airman anymore, she wasn't a newly minted General given a field promotion after San Francisco fell in the first Kaiju attack, she was just a frantic, desperate woman trying to find her family

A deafening boom suddenly rang out, and the Kaiju staggered as a Jaeger stormed towards it, its verdant green hull glinting in the midafternoon sun as it grappled with the beast. Martian Manhunter, Astra recognized it, she'd even met its pilots once, Hank Henshaw and Jeremiah Danvers.

Ignoring the battle raging above the city streets, Astra kept pushing through the crowds, stopping at sudden roar from the beast. Looking up she watched in horror as Rozz suddenly gripped Manhunter in a bear hug and tore the Jaeger in half, before biting down at its conn-pod.

Only then did Astra realized what had happened

Seattle had fallen...


	2. Where Do You Want to Die?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! Enjoy!

******

**Aleutian Islands, Alaska**  
**Anti-Kaiju Wall, 2025**

"All right!" the foreman barked out as he held up three ration cards "who wants to work and who wants to eat?!"

Ignoring the rest of the crowd pushing forward for food, Astra instead shuffled forward towards the work desk

"Sorry, hon," the clerk said "all I gots is welding at the top of the wall"

"I'll take it" Astra grunted

"You sure?" he asked "dangerous work," he warned "ain't gonna lie, lota folks die up there, they either freeze or just fall off, and at that height, ain't _nobody_ gonna catch you" he warned

Astra just smirked humorlessly

"I'm already dead" she answered grimly...

******

The clerk hadn't been lying, it _was_ dangerous work, All throughout her shift Astra was certain she could die in one of three ways, exposure, falling, or an acetylene explosion, and out of those three falling seemed the most pleasant sounding. Stowing her gear at the end of her shift, she collected her ration card from the (suitably impressed) clerk and helped herself to a hot meal of porridge, it wasn't much on taste or looks, but it filled you up and gave you some vital nutrients

"Hey, hey!" a hand frantically tapped her on the shoulder, shakily pointing up at a TV hanging above the counter

" _We're here live in National City where a massive Category 3 Kaiju just breached the costal wall,_ " a news anchor shakily announced as footage of the beast tearing through the wall was splashed across the screen " _the beast tore through the wall in less than an_ hour" the anchor continued " _breaching a structure that the designers, chief among them billionaire industrialist Maxwell Lord, had declared impregnable_ "

"What the hell are we building that fucking thing for?!!" someone demand as the news report continued

" _...only the timely intervention the Jaeger_ Sentinel Gambit _piloted by husband and wife team Kara Danvers and James Olsen, was the creature finally stopped,_ " a clip of the Jaeger in its gleaming blue paintjob filled the screen as it grappled with the Kaiju, finally gripping it in a chokehold and breaking its neck, killing it _"we're here with_ Sentinel Gambit's pilots _, James Olsen and Kara Danvers_ " the reporter continued as she held out the microphone to an interracial couple in blue drivesuits. the husband, James Olsen was tall and broad shouldered, and his wife was blonde and cute. But, Astra leaned forward, staring at the image of the girl...that nose, those eyes, the jaw line...it _couldn't_ be...

"Kara," she whispered, her niece was alive! Astra didn't know how she'd survived the fall of Seattle but didn't care "phone," she stammered "phone! I need a phone!"

******

**National City Shatterdome**  
**0800 hours**

The helicopter jerked in an updraft as it landed on the helipad

"General, we're here!" the pilot called out

"I can see that," Astra spat out as the doors opened "and don't call me 'general'!" she added as she climbed out onto the tarmac, the mist from the water whipped around from the rotor blades of dozens of choppers

"General Inze!" a broad chested black man approached her and held out a hand

"Marshal Henshaw," Astra shook his hand "I was surprised to get your invitation" she added as he handed her an umbrella and led her towards the entrance

"Your niece insisted" Henshaw explained as they entered the heavy-duty elevator and swiftly began their descent into the bowels of the Shatterdome

"So what made you agree?" Astra wondered as the elevator jerked to a stop and they climbed out into a frankly dingy-looking corridor

"I agreed because we're in need of soldiers to fight this war," Henshaw explained as he paused at a set of heavy doors, punching in an access code. The doors sliding open to reveal a massive loading bay, dozens of people and vehicles buzzed about like insects, and dominating the space were two Jaegers "I'm sure you're aware of the UN cutting our funding in order to build the Wall," Henshaw said as Astra struggled to take in the scope of the place "well, not many people are aware that the UN has shut down the Jaeger Program," he gestured to the bay "a few years ago we had five bays just like this one, each holding twenty Jaegers. Now, we have just the one bay and only three Jaegers"

"I didn't know it was that bad" Astra admitted

"I'll be blunt, General," Henshaw said he stopped and turned to face her "we're not an army anymore, we're not even the last line of defense. We're the resistance," he nodded up behind her "see that?" he asked, pointing at a large digital counter above the doors they had just walked through "that's the war clock," he explained "we reset it after every Kaiju attack, keeps everyone on their toes. Now tell me, how much time is left do you think?" he asked, Astra frowned up at the clock

00:20:00:00

"Not much" she admitted

"You're right," Henshaw nodded as he turned and continued down the length of the bay, Astra hurrying after him as he stopped in front of one of the Jaegers "this is _Intrepid Tangent_ , one of the last of the Mark 3s," he explained "piloted by Winn Schott Jr. and Lucy Lane," he gestured to where a young man and woman were playing cards in a corner "good kids, they helped fend off at least two attacks on National City," he added "over here," he nodded another Jaeger, built in gleaming, polished blue "...is I think the one you're looking for; _Sentinel Gambit_ ," he chuckled "first and last of the Mark 5s. With your niece and her husband at the reins they've held the line for over twelve times"

" _Twelve_ times?" Astra repeated, stunned

"That's right," Henshaw nodded "the U.S. was about to decommission her an _hour _before the attack" he explained__

____

"Hank!" Astra turned at the shout, seeing a young woman with short brunette hair march over to them

____

"Ah, General Inze, this is Dr. Alex Danvers," Henshaw introduced "Dr. Danvers, this is--"

____

"Astra Inze," the young woman finished as she shook Astra's hand "I saw a photo Kara has of her mother once," she explained "funny, you don't look anything like her" she commented

____

"Yeah." Astra snorted "we got that a lot as kids, being only pair of identical twins in our neighborhood," she muttered sarcastically "I'm sorry, your last name is 'Danvers'?"

____

"That's right," Dr. Danvers nodded "my family adopted Kara after Seattle" she explained

____

"So that would make you her...?"

____

"My sister" Alex explained, and Astra stamped down the feeling of emptiness she always felt whenever she heard that word now

____

"Dr. Danvers is also in charge of our Mark 3 Restoration Program" Henshaw explained

____

"Alex!" Astra turned at the shout, freezing at the sight of Kara jogging over to them. Slowly, Kara stopped, staring at Astra open-mouthed, before she suddenly broke out into a sprint and hurled herself into Astra's arms, holding her tight "it's really you!" she laughed as she pulled away "I mean I didn't quite believe it when I got your phone call, I thought you died in Seattle, but...you're here!" she gave a giddy laugh "you're really here!"

____

"I'm here," Astra agreed as she shakily brushed her fingertips across Kara's cheek "oh, look how you've grown," she breathed "so beautiful. And you're married too"

____

"Oh yeah, you've got to meet James!" Kara exclaimed "you'll love him, Aunt Astra"

____

"I'm sure I will," Astra agreed as Kara hurried off to find her husband. She turned to face Henshaw, instead finding herself looking into the soft brown eyes of Alex Danvers "you took her in" she whispered

____

"We did" Alex nodded

____

"And you said that she's your...sister?"

____

"We weren't really raised like sisters," Alex explained "but that's how we grew to see each other. I used to keep an eye on her when we were kids, kept the bullies away"

____

"That's good," Astra nodded "sisters should look out for each other" she cringed at the memory of how she failed Alura spiked through her

____

"Hey," she started at the gentle touch on her arm "there wasn't anything anyone could do, Rozz was the biggest Category 2 we'd ever faced," she sighed "besides," she added "I know what it feels like, losing someone close to you"

____

"Do you?" Astra asked, unashamed of the bitterness in her tone

____

"My father was Jeremiah Danvers" Alex answered

____

"One of _Manhunter's_ pilots," Astra recalled, remembering how the Kaiju had torn the Jaeger apart with ease "I'm sorry," she said "is that why you joined up?" she asked "because of your father?"

____

"Partly," Alex nodded "but also partly because Hank took me in," she nodded to where Henshaw was deep in conversation with Winn Schott and Lucy Lane "he was still connected to my father when he died"

____

"Jesus," Astra swore, suddenly feeling ill "excuse me" she muttered, turning and heading back for the doors

____

"General!" Hank Henshaw called out after her "and where do you think you're going?" he asked as she stopped in the corridor, breathing hard "I didn't invite you over here for a family reunion, I agreed to let you come because we need pilots"

____

"Find some other sucker then," Astra spat "I'm not fighting in your war"

____

"It isn't 'my' war," Hank spat out "it's _everyone's_ war! We are fighting for our very survival!" he called out as she reached the elevator "the world is ending, Astra!" he called out "now where do you want to die? Building some fucking wall? _**OR IN A JAEGER?!**_ "

____


	3. Compatible

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update time! Enjoy! :=)

******

Astra groaned as someone pounded on the door of her ‘room’ at the Shatterdome, if you could call a glorified metal box a ‘room'. Grabbing her pillow, she dropped it over her head, wondering why she had agreed to play solider for Hank Henshaw

“Aunt Astra, you awake?” Kara called out from the other side of the door

Right. That was why

“All right, all right,” she groaned, staggering out of bed and throwing the heavy door open to see Kara’s smiling face “hello, little one,” she breathed, still awed at the fact that her niece was alive, that she was standing in right in front of her “you look lovely” she blurted out, and Kara did, actually, even with her hair tied back in a messy ponytail and wearing a rumpled PPDC jumpsuit

“Thanks,” Kara blushed “you look awful” she stated

“Hmm,” Astra grumbled as she went back into the room and shrugged on a pair of, fairly, clean clothes “I feel awful” she admitted as she followed Kara out into the hall

“Here,” Kara held out a slim, foil-wrapped bar “protean bar,” she explained “should wake you right up”

“I doubt it,” Astra grumbled as she tore open the foil and took a bite of the chalky, cloyingly sweet bar “so, tell me, how’d you get to be a part of all this?” she asked “joining the Defense Corps, becoming a Jaeger pilot” she elaborated

“Joining the PPDC was actually because of Alex,” Kara began “she’s the one who recruited me as a technician, in fact I spent my first year here learning how to take Jaegers apart and put them back together again”

“So how did you go from repairing Jaegers to piloting one?”

“James Olsen,” Kara answered, eyes lighting up at the mention of her husband, who Astra had still yet to meet “he’d been recruited as a new candidate for the Jaeger Program but none of his co-pilot candidates were Drift compatible”

“I thought Drift compatibility wasn’t strictly necessary to pilot a Jaeger?”

“It’s not,” Kara confirmed “but it helps, especially with first timers. Anyway, there was no one left, and so I stepped up, and well…we were compatible,” she grinned slightly “very compatible” she chuckled

“Kara!” Astra spluttered, laughing “you…!” she broke off, laughing, Kara laughing with her

“Come on, I’m a big girl now,” she teased, she sobered, stopping Astra mid-stride “I’m glad you’re here” she said

“So am I” Astra admitted

“Come on, I’ll show you to your Jaeger” Kara explained

******

The Jaeger was big. Built out of gleaming black metal with sliver or chrome accents, it was built like a dancer, lithe and quick, not as bulky as some of the earlier Jaegers had been, this one was built more like _Sentinel Gambit_ rather than other Jaegers; thin, graceful, built for a combination of speed and maneuverability, probably capable of dodging a Kaiju attacks with a fair amount of speed and grace despite its mass before soundly hammering a Kaiju into pulp

“There she is,” Kara said “ _Brave Omen_ , one of the last of the Mark 3s,” she explained “we found her in a Jaeger graveyard near Lima, actually,” she explained “took us almost a year to put her back together again”

“You did good,” Astra commented “it looks like new”

“She practically is,” Kara nodded “we rebuilt her from the ground up” she explained

“So,” Astra began “you want me to pilot that?” she asked

“Kinda” Kara gave her a small smile, Astra sighed

“All right…I’ll try”

******

**_Brave Omen_ co-pilot candidate trials**  
**0600 hours**

The third, and final, of Astra’s co-pilot candidates hit the mat hard. Groaning, the young man got up and staggered off. Astra sighed; she wasn’t even sweating yet, not bad for someone who hadn’t spared in nearly twenty years

“Time” Alex called out

“You have a problem, Dr. Danvers?” Astra asked

“You could have taken all three of them at least one move earlier” Alex countered

“Really? Let’s see how _you_ do”

Standing next to Alex, Hank Henshaw frowned, glancing between the two women, before finally nodding reluctantly

“All right” Alex grabbed a staff and slipped off her boots, softly padding to the other side of the mat

“Four strikes equals a win” Hank reminded them

“Yeah, we know” Alex grumbled, before she suddenly lunged, staff whirling through the air. Astra feinted, blocking Alex’s blow, slipping her own staff under Alex’s arm and tearing the staff out of her hands. Rolling, Alex somersaulted across the mat, recovered her staff, before springing up, hooking the staff behind Astra’s knee and sweeping her legs out from under her, twisting, Astra repeated the move, sending them both to the mat, staffs at each other’s throats

“Time!” Hank barked. Panting, both women slowly climbed to their feet, standing at attention as Hank rubbed at his forehead “I think I’ve seen all I need to know,” he sighed “Ranger Inze, report to _Brave Omen_ tomorrow at twelve one hundred hours to meet your new co-pilot”

“No” Astra said firmly, Hank stopped as a sudden silence ran through the room

“I’m sorry?” Hank asked in a deathly quiet tone as he approached them both

“I’m not marching to your fife, _Hank,_ ” Astra sneered, she nodded at Alex “I don’t know what’s going on between you two, and frankly I don’t care, she’s my co-pilot or else I walk”

“And just where will you walk to?” he hissed “back to the Wall?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Astra shrugged “she’s my co-pilot”

Visibly grinding his jaw, Hank glowered at her as he looked between the two of women

“Hank,” Alex sighed “she’s right, you said it yourself, we need her if the plan is going to work, _Omen_ needs a pilot, and she needs a co-pilot”

“1200 hours,” he finally spat out, as he turned and marched away “don’t be late” he added

“So,” Astra sighed as she watched Hank storm out “he’s…mad?”

“It’s hard to with him” Alex admitted

“So, what’s this plan of yours?” Astra wondered, Alex sighed

“Basically, we’re going to drop a two thousand ton nuclear bomb in the Breach” she explained

For a second, Astra simply stared at her

“ _That’s_ your plan?” she asked “we hit the Breach on day one with two IBCMs, they both just bounced off, what’s changed?”

“Can’t tell you” Alex admitted as she laced up her boots

“Can’t, or won’t?”

“Can’t, because Hank won’t tell me” Alex explained

“You’re excited,” Astra noted “first time piloting a Jaeger?”

“How’d you know?” Alex wondered as she shrugged on her jacket and moved down the corridor out of the training room towards the sleeping quarters

“You got this…look about you,” Astra explained “I used to see it whenever somebody at Edwards got picked for the Jaeger Academy, this kind of giddy glow”

“’Giddy glow’?” Alex repeated as they each stopped at an intersection in the corridor

“Well, that’s how I describe it,” Astra shrugged, as she went one way and Alex the other “Alex,” she called out “I need to know, are you excited to get into a Jaeger for yourself, or for your father?”

“For myself, obviously” Alex scoffed

“Are you sure?” Astra challenged “because I’ve been where you are before, you’re hurting, you want revenge, you want to _hurt_ them for hurting you,” she shook her head “revenge isn’t good for anything,” she advised “be very sure about what you’re really doing this for”

“I’m sure” Alex said firmly

“We’ll see” Astra sighed…

******

“Aunt Astra!” Kara waved as Astra shuffled into the commissary “here, sit with us” she said, offering Astra a tray

“Thanks,” Astra smiled as she took the tray and followed her niece to a table “haven’t seen real bread in a while” she commented as she sat down opposite Kara and James Olsen

“That’s the beauty of being in National City,” James commented “open port, no rationing”

“Oh, aunt Astra, this is James,” Kara introduced “James, Astra”

“Nice to meet you,” Astra smiled as she shook hands with him “Kara’s been singing your praises every time we meet”

“Well, I hope that’s a good thing” James said as he scooped up a spoonful of potatoes

“Oh, very good” Astra nodded, as two more people sat down

“Oh, Astra, this is Winn Schott and Lucy Lane” James introduced

“Hi,” Winn offered his hand, beaming widely “I’m Winn”

“And I’m Lucy”

“Hello,” Astra smiled as she shook hands with them both “I’m sorry, ‘Lane’, any relation to a ‘General Sam Lane’?”

“My father” Lucy explained

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Astra apologized “he seemed like a good man” she said, it sounded hollow and false to her ears, even though she meant it. General Lane had died when LA had been attacked by a Category 3 Kaiju known as ‘Red Tornado’, the Kaiju had stomped through half of downtown LA before _Manhunter_ had finally taken it out. Astra had only met him briefly when the Kaiju had made landfall, he had been in charge of escorting civilians to safety while Astra had been in charge of maintaining an air defense while the PPDC scrambled a Jaeger.

Suffice it to say, neither effort was successful, the Kaiju had flattened half of LA until _Manhunter_ finally took it down half a mile inland and three hours later, one of the worse victories for the PPDC and the Jaegers ever…

******

**_Brave Omen_ trail run**  
**1200 hours ******

****

“ _Brave Omen_ neural test commencing” the PA announced as LOCCENT buzzed with activity the next afternoon

****

“Ms. Inze,” Hank called out as Astra made her way into the busy control room “this is Susan Vasquez,” he introduced the woman handling the controls “she’s the one who’s in charge of all Jaeger operations” he explained

****

“Ma’am” Susan Vasquez shook her hand

****

“Now, would you mind telling me what exactly your plan is?” Astra asked

****

“All in due time, General,” Hank nodded “now, suit up,” he ordered “your co-pilot’s waiting”

****

******

****

“Setting harness for test run,” Alex reported as she finished calibrating the harness inside the Conn-Pod “waiting for second pilot”

****

“ _Co-pilot onboard_ ” the AI reported. Turning, Alex smirked at the sight of Astra clad in a glossy black Drivesuit, helmet tucked under one arm

****

“Looks good on you,” Alex commented “I feel like an extra in a bad movie”

****

Astra chuckled as she shifted “You don’t look so bad yourself,” she commented, flexing one shoulder “didn’t know these things were so tight” she remarked

****

“Yeah, me neither” Alex agreed

****

“ _Ladies,_ ” Hank rumbled over the comm. “ _focus please_ ”

****

“Understood, sir,” Alex nodded as she slid the helmet on, Astra coping her “OK, Astra,” she began as she strapped herself into the left harness “don’t chase the rabbit,” she warned “’Random, Access Brain Impulse Triggers’,“ she explained “just let them wash over you, stay in the Drift”

****

“Question, have you ever done this before?” Astra asked

****

“Honestly? No”

****

“Well, that’s comforting” Astra sighed

****

“ _Neural handshake initiating in…sixty seconds,_ ” the AI reported “ _fifty…forty_ ”

****

“Here we go” Alex sighed as the computer continued counting down

****

“ _Neural handshake initiating…_ ”

****

******

****

_“Alura!!”_

****

_”I’m sorry, Mrs. Danvers….your husband died a hero”_

****

_”ALURA!!”_

****

_”I’m sorry, Mrs. Danvers”_

****

_”ALURA!!”_

****

_”I’m sorry…Alura”_ ”

****

******

****

“ _Alex!_ ”

****

Astra jerked as she came back to reality, blinking as memories that weren’t her own flowed past her minds eye

****

“I’m all right,” Alex reported over the comm., she turned to Astra “you OK?” Alex asked

****

“Yeah,” Astra nodded shakily “yeah, I’m good”

****

“ _Left hemisphere…calibrated,_ ” the AI reported “ _right hemisphere…calibrated. Pilot to Jaeger connection complete. Jaeger now on-line. Beginning test run…_ ” 

****

******

****

“Sir?” Susan Vasquez, nodded towards the readouts “I’ve never seen a neural reading like this before” she stated

****

“I’ll be damned,” Hank swore as he studied the readings. Alex and Astra were both in near-perfect synchronization, to a level unheard of in a neural drift before. But, just as Hank was starting to second guess himself, the screen flickered “damn it!” Hank swore

****

******

****

“ _Pilot out of alignment_ ” the AI reported as Alex suddenly jerked in the harness

****

“Alex?” Astra questioned as a memory swam before her mind’s eye. Seattle

****

“ _Neural bridge out of alignment. Code red_ ” the AI reported as the interior of the Conn-Pod fell away, being replaced by the panicked streets of Seattle…

****

_“Alex,” Astra moved in front of Alex, even as the phantom images of Rozz and Manhunter loomed overhead “Alex, this isn’t real!” Astra urged “come on, come on back,” Alex shook and jerked “that’s it,” Astra encouraged as Alex shook off the memory…_

****

“ _Pilot realigned,_ ” the AI reported as Alex came back to reality “ _neural exercise…complete, disengaging neural handshake_ ”

****

“You all right?” Astra asked as she took off her helmet

****

“Yeah, yeah” Alex said, looking pale and cold… 

****


	4. Give Us the Tools, and We Shall Finish the Job

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to the Shatterdome! That's right "Hold the Line", my GD/Pacific Rim fusion AU is back, enjoy! :=)

******

_”In the wake of the recent attack on National City, which proved the overwhelming ineffectiveness of the Wall of Life, many people are now demanding answers as why the Jaeger Program has been discontinued...,”_

The news was playing as Astra shuffled back into her quarters. She sorted through her few meager belongings, stopping short as she pulled out the small stack of pictures, there was about a dozen or so, some of her back when she still Air Force, back before the armed forces were absorbed into the PPDC, some of Kara when she had still been young, still innocent, when ‘Kaiju’ was just a funny-sounding word from Japan.

And some of Alura

Astra felt that all-too familiar _ache_ as she sorted through these particular photos, some from when they had been kids, when ‘monsters’ were just scary things under the bed, there was one of Alura’s wedding, she beamed for the camera, looking _so_ happy, and Astra wondered why she had never married, there had been plenty of offers, but, each time, it didn’t feel… _right_. Continuing to sort through the photos, she stopped at the last one, the last photo ever taken of Alura, when she had attended the memorial ceremony in San Francisco, after the first Kaiju made landfall on K-Day.

With a bittersweet smile, Astra gently taped them all up on the wall, turning back to the wall screen as the news continued

“ _…several riots have broken out in various Pan Pacific cities, as protestors now demand the reactivation of the Jaegers,_ ” the report continued “ _despite this, several key UN officials, including American Ambassador, Miranda Crane, insist that the Wall of Life is a more ‘practical’ option. Already plans are being made to move at least fifty thousand people inland to the so-called ‘safe zones’, but many are already questioning this decision, calling it a way for the rich and powerful to ignore the plight of those on the coast. In other news--_ ”

Ignoring the news for the moment, Astra flopped back onto the bunk. She sat up suddenly as she… _sensed_ Alex hovering outside the door

 _’Come inside,’_ she thought _’please, just…open the door, force your way in, stop making me have to be the responsible one, for once, let someone else carry the load’_

The unlocked door swung open. For a moment Alex simply stood there, staring at her, Astra, for her part, simply stared back

“I’m sorry,” Astra said softly as Alex approached “I thought you knew. About your father”

“I did," Alex nodded jerkily "I just didn’t know that you _saw_ it happen,” she hissed.

For a long moment neither of them spoke as they watched the news

“We got a new crew,” Alex said suddenly “ _Silver Banshee_ , piloted by Leslie Willis and Siobhan Smythe” she added

“I thought they were on the Hawaii coast” Astra frowned, Alex nodded

“They were” she confirmed

“Then how’d Hank get a hold of them?”

Alex shrugged “Somehow, I get the feeling that I don’t _want_ know how Hank convinced them”

“I get that same feeling” Astra smirked

More silence passed between them

“I’m sorry,” Alex spoke up “about Alura”

“I know,” Astra nodded “and you’ve been a good sister to Kara”

“Doesn’t always feel like it” Alex grumbled

“It never does” Astra smirked, she reached out and rested her hand on Alex’s, curling her fingers around the other woman’s, as Alex curled her own fingers in Astra’s hand

A knock on the still-open door startled them, and they both guiltiy broke apart as Hank stood in the doorway

“Am I intrupting something?” he drawled

“No, sir,” Alex shook her head as she stood at attention, like a good little soldier, Astra noted

“Well, in that case,” Hank began, smirking ever-so slightly “I think it’s time I let you in on our plan” he explained…

******

**K-Science Lab**  
**1300 hours**

The K-Science lab was cluttered and stank of ammonia. Large tanks filled with dark yellow liquid lined the walls, strange, alien-looking organs floating inside, Kaiju specimens, extremely as the acidic nature of the creature’s blood—the so-called ‘Kaiju Blue’—caused most of their internal organs to breakdown upon their death, along with most other nearby structures and people. As Astra and Alex followed Hank into the lab they were joined by Kara, James, and Lucy. Winn was already inside the lab, standing on a stepladder as he wrote on a massive chalkboard set up on one wall, while a woman meticulously picked apart what looked like a variety of Kaiju organs

“Wow, that is a _big_ chalkboard” Astra deadpanned, which earned a snort from Kara

“General Inze, this is Dr. Lillian Luthor,” Hank rumbled “she’s one the preeminent experts on the Kaiju and the head of our research division” the woman turned, giving them a brief, dismissive, nod as she snapped off her surgical gloves with an air of annoyance, her whole body language in fact gave off the impression that she could care less about the people in this room, nor the people in the Shatterdome as a whole. To her they were merely tools to be used to further her own goals, namely the study of the Kaiju

“Marshal,” she nodded to Hank in acknowledgement “General Inze,” she smirked at Astra “so, you’re the new meat for the grinder, I hear” she sneered with a scowl

Astra didn’t flinch, merely returned the glower “Nice to see you again, Lillian,” she sneered back “how’s Lex? Still dead, I take it?”

Lillian looked as if she suddenly wanted to tear Astra’s throat out with her teeth

“Dr. Luthor…,” Hank warned “the information, please?” he requested. Still scowling, Lillian nodded to the chalkboard where Winn was still scribbling away, clearly lost in his own little world, oblivious to the goings on around him

“In the beginning, the attacks were spaced every twenty-four weeks,” Lillian began “then twelve, then six, then every two. The recent attack was only a week,” she tapped the chalkboard with her knuckles, which Winn was completely oblivious to “in four days; we could be seeing a Kaiju every eight hours until they are coming every _four minutes_. Within a week, we should be seeing a double event”

“Doctor, I’m going to need more than just a prediction” Hank rumbled

“Numbers don’t lie,” Lillian scoffed “friendships, love, pretty music, those are lies. Numbers are the only real truth in the universe, the closest we’ll ever come to seeing the face of God. We _will_ see a double event, then three, then four, then---”

“…we’re all dead,” Astra finished “we get it”

“And this is the ‘good part’,” Winn scoffed, as he hopped off the stepladder and pulled a white board over “OK, here is our world,” he drew a circle “here is theirs,” he drew a second circle underneath the first “and _this_ ,” he drew two lines connecting the two circles together “is what we call the ‘throat’, the doorway they’re using to get through the Breach to our side”

“We know all this, Winn,” Kara nodded “so, what’s changed?”

“This,” Winn knocked on the white board “Lillian thinks that the more Kaiju coming through will force the Breach to stabilize and keep it open long enough to the drop the bomb through”

“ _That’s_ your big plan?” Astra exclaimed “wait until a hundred Kaiju are at our door and _hope_ that they forgot to shut the door on the way out?” she stared at them all “I was wrong about you, all of you, you’re not brave, you’re fucking _suicidal!_ ”

“Uh, actually…,” Winn held up a hand “I’ve got a better plan if anyone’s interested”

“Oh, here we go” Lillian rolled her eyes as Winn wheeled over two trays

“OK, now why do we judge the Kaiju on a category system?” he began “it’s because they’re completely different, right? One looks like a shark, one looks like a troll, and so on. _Except_ , I don’t think that they’re all that different,” he nodded to the tray on the right “this is a sample taken from Vartox, the one that just attacked National City,” he tapped the tray on the left “this one was taken in Seattle from Rozz. They have the exact same DNA”

“Wait a minute, how is that possible?” Alex wondered

“I think it’s because they were _created_ ” Winn explained

“Created?” James asked “by who? Why?”

“I don’t know,” Winn admitted with a shrug “ _but_ it just goes to show that there is so much about them that we don’t understand. Here,” he led the group over to a large tank, what looked like part of the brain and spinal column of a Kaiju sat inside, disturbingly, it still visibly twitched in the tank “this is part of a Kaiju brain,” Winn explained “now, its damaged, but still alive”

“Your point, Mr. Schott?” Hank asked 

“What if we could Drift with it?” Winn suggested

For a moment everyone simply stared at him in stunned silence

“I take it back,” Astra said suddenly “the bitch’s plan is better”

“Now, wait, wait, hear me out,” Winn pleaded “if we can Drift with it, think what we could learn, I could tell you _exactly_ how many Kaiju are coming, I could even tell you how to get through the Breach”

“ _Or_ , you could end up killing yourself,” Lucy countered “the neural strain would be too much for the human brain”

“Well, I don’t, don’t mean that we Drift with a _whole_ Kaiju,” Winn stammered “just, you know, a part of its brain. A tiny part, tiny”

“Please, ignore him,” Lillian sneered “he’s a Kaiju _groupie_ , he loves them”

“Hey, I don’t like you” Winn countered

“Dr. Luthor, I want your information on my desk tomorrow” Hank ordered

“But, but, but—” Winn protested

“Come with me” Lucy abruptly grabbed his arm and yanked him down the hall

“They’re dating” James explained to Astra’s befuddled look

“Oh,” Astra nodded, wondering about that, if the Drift had something to do with that, she could still feel an impression of Alex inside her head, an echo of her consciousness that sat in the back of her mind. Turning back to Alex, she smirked “ _that’s_ your research team?” she asked

“Winn is a certifiable genius,” Alex explained “and Lillian is---”

“…just plain certifiable” Astra snorted, Alex snorted out a half-laugh

“Actually,” Hank began “Dr. Luthor is one of the few, indeed the last, Kaiju experts who hasn’t already relocated inland to the safe zones” he explained

“Really?” Astra drawled

“Hank…” Alex began

“The discussion is _over_ , Alex,” Hank stated firmly “you gave it a shot, you failed, no shame in that”

“I can do it, damn it!” Alex swore, Hank shook his head

“No, and that’s final,” he sighed “we’ll find another co-pilot for Astra” he explained

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Astra scoffed as Hank stalked away. Sighing, Astra reached out and lightly, awkwardly, rested her hand on Alex’s shoulder. The other woman quickly shook out of her grip

“Don’t,” she requested softly “please”

“All right” Astra agreed, feeling something deep within herself _break_ as she watched Alex walk away…

******

Sighing, Astra trudged up to the door to Alex’s quarters and simply waited. A few seconds later, the door creaked open and a tired, drained looking Alex leaned out

“Go away, Astra”

“No,” gently brushing past her, Astra pushed her way inside “for one thing, I don’t think that you should be alone right now” she added

“And what’s the second?” Alex scoffed

Astra held up the bottle she'd brought with her as she sat down on the bed

“I brought booze”

“I could use a stiff drink right now,” Alex mumbled as she shut the door and shuffled to the small kitchenette, returning with two, fairly clean, mugs. Handing one to Astra, she took the bottle, opened it, and took a sniff, wrinkling her nose in clear disgust “ugh! Smells like drain cleaner” she exclaimed

“It probably was at one point,” Astra chuckled as she took the bottle back “welcome to the exciting world of bootleg booze, otherwise known as ‘rotgut’,” she poured herself a generous portion and then another for Alex “a toast,” she held up her mug “to us two sorry shits”

“I’ll drink to that,” Alex snorted. They clinked their mugs together and downed the offensive substance. Astra laughed richly as Alex choked and gagged “Oh! GOD! Where did you _get this?!_ ” she demanded

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answers to,” Astra chuckled as she gestured for Alex to join her on the bed and poured herself another cup, she held out the bottle to Alex, who frantically shook her no “hmm, more for me,” Astra down the second cup easily “we’re a pair, aren’t we?” she mused

“Yeah,” Alex agreed “we are”

“Still, at least we can be sorry shits together” Astra mused

Alex snorted

“Hank just doesn’t get it” she sighed

“Now, see,” Astra began “that’s where you’re wrong, he _does_ get it, all too well. But, he still can’t help but see you as the twelve year old girl he took responsibility for,” she sighed as she poured another cup for herself “see, that’s what’s people always get wrong, it’s not the child who needs their parent, it’s the parent who needs the child, who needs someone to take care of, to look out for, and once they don’t have that…” she trailed off

“…they become like you did after Alura died” Alex whispered

“Exactly” Astra whispered, turning to face her. Impulsively, she reached out and brushed a lock of hair away from Alex’s face, stopping as Alex gently gripped her arm. Turning it, she placed a gentle kiss on the inside of the wrist before reaching out with her other hand and curling her fingers into back of Astra’s neck and pulling her forward. all thoughts of wrong this was, about how Alex was technically Kara's sister, were gone, replaced only by a feeling of completeness

The lights suddenly flickered, making them both stop and look up at the ceiling, frowning as an alarm began to ring

“ _Alert, power surge in K-Science Labs_ ” the PA announced

Alex and Astra both looked at each other, each of them getting a sinking feeling their gut

“Winn!” they both gasped…


	5. Tales From the Drift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has come to my attention, that some people may have taken offense to the fact that I used a fic they wrote as inspiration for one of my own without asking for permission, for that I am truly sorry, it wasn't my intention to cause offense, and oftentimes when I put that tag on there, it doesn't mean that I'm trying to claim another's work as my own, but rather that some part of their fic gave me an idea to do something similar in tone or style, now, I'm not trying to say that excuses what I did, just trying to explain my reasoning.
> 
> For example Roryteller's "Small Worlds" inspired "Strange Visitor", what that means is that the basic idea behind "Small Worlds" (Astra and Alex meeting pre-series and falling for each other) inspired me to do something similar but not identical. The same with "Hold the Line" here, which was inspired by "shoot to kill (play to thrill)" by donothaveagentleheart, by 'inspired' I mean that that particular fic inspired my to do my own version of a GD/Pacific Rim fusion AU, NOT that I'm claiming that fic as my own
> 
> Of course this is all kind of moot now, seeing as how those fics are already up and, in most cases, finished, but, to anyone who wrote a fic that inspired me, I am truly sorry if I have offended you, it wasn't my intention and I vow to ask for permission next time
> 
> \--AXEe

******

The alarms continued to blare as Alex and Astra elbowed past people as they raced down the hall towards the K-Science Lab, Lillian Luthor was casually waiting outside, looking bored

“Move! Move!” Alex snapped as she practically collided with the sealed door of the Lab “come on, open! Open!” she frantically typed her access code “finally!” the door slid open

“Shit!” Astra swore as they both moved towards a twitching Winn, who now lay semi-conscious on the floor next to the tank containing the Kaiju brain segment, a haphazard collection of various electronics scattered around him, all of them connected to the headset that was still on his head. Quickly finding a switch, Astra slammed her hand down on it, shutting off the device

“Winn?” Alex slapped his cheek “come on, Winn!” she looked around the conglomeration of the electronics surrounding him “damn it, he actually did it!” she swore

“What’s going on in here?!” Hank stormed in, clearly furious

“Winn built a neural bridge and Drifted with the Kaiju brain” Astra explained

“He _what?!_ ” Hank demanded, as Winn suddenly jerked up. Blinking he looked between the three people standing over him

“I…I was right,” he stammered out as he struggled to stand up, only for Alex to ease him back down “I was right”

“Right about what?” Astra asked

“The, the Kaiju, they’re not just mindless animals, somebody sent them here” he explained…

******

A few minutes later and Winn, although still a little dazed and shaking, was now gently propped up in a chair, a cup of lukewarm coffee in one hand, Lucy’s hand in his other as she and Kara and James and Alex and Astra, and Hank and a still-disinterested Lillian stood around him

“Now,” Astra began “just take your time,” she encouraged “what did you see?”

“It, was…scattered…fragmented,” he began “its incredible, they’re all linked in, like, a ‘hive mind’, each Kaiju knows what the last one faced, so the next one knows what to expect”

“What about these….’creators’ you mentioned?” Alex asked

“They’re…,” Winn shook his head “they’re like colonists, conquerors, they take over one world and then, once they’ve drained it of everything they need or want, they move on,” he took a sip of his coffee “they tried it here before, when the dinosaurs were still around, I mean they’re why the dinosaurs went extinct”

“That’s impossible” Lillian scoffed

“WHY DON’T YOU TRY IT?!!!?” Winn suddenly bellowed

“You!” Astra stabbed a finger at Lillian “shut up!” she whirled on her heel and pointed at Winn “you! Keep talking!”

“After they wiped out the dinosaurs, they tried to take over,” Winn began “but….it wasn’t right for them, the environment, so…they waited, and now…now we’ve practically terraformed it for them, pollution, toxic run off, the holes in the ozone. It’s perfect for them now. The Category Twos? Threes? Fours? They were just the first wave, a way of seeing what they’re up against. After them, then we get the Category Fives,” he looked between them frantically “don’t you get it?!” he demanded “this isn’t war! It’s not an invasion! It’s _pest control!!_ The first waves were just the exterminators! Then we’ll get the hounds! Categories Five and _up!_ And then…then, the new tenants move in”

“All right, breathe!” Kara encouraged, gently gripping Winn’s shoulders, even as he shook and trembled, shakily sipping his coffee

“Marshal, don’t tell me that you believe this nonsense?” Lillian scoffed

“Right now, Doctor, what I believe isn’t the point,” Hank began “but what I know is infinitely more important. For example, I know that the doors to the lab were sealed from the outside, using your access code” he fixed her with a hard glare as a stunned silence ran thought the room

“You….fucking bitch!” Lucy suddenly lunged, soundly decking Lillian across the jaw “what? You just wanted to see what would happen?” she demanded as James and Kara held her back “wanted to see if he’d survive?!”

“You must admit, Major,” Lillian began coldly as she rubbed her jaw “the scientific implications of the first Human-Kaiju Drift would be of immense value. Despite the nonsensical nature of what Mr. Schott claims he saw”

“So you locked the lab to make sure that no one would stop him” Hank growled

“It would have invalidated the experiment” Lillian scoffed

“’Experiment’?” Winn exclaimed “dude! I’m a human being!”

“Men,” Hank snapped his fingers and two large guards entered the lab “place Dr. Luthor under arrest for attempted murder”

“Attempted murder,” Lillian scoffed as the guards each grabbed one of her arms and began to lead her away “I didn’t ‘force’ him to undergo the Drift”

“No. You just didn’t stop him” Astra sneered as Lillian was led out of the room

“Mr. Schott,” Hank began “I know that you’ve just been through a traumatic experience, but we need more information. Can you do it again?”

“Uh, I don’t know,” Winn admitted “I mean, the brain segment is gone, fried. So, not unless you have another Kaiju brain lying around….,” he trailed off, staring between the rest of them “do you?” he wondered…

******

“Ever since the Kaiju first appeared there have been people who want to make a quick buck off them,” Astra began as she pulled up dozens of restricted files on the computer screen in front of her “some just tried to market their likeness—t-shirts, sneakers, things like that—but others try to sell Kaiju remains on the black market to anyone who’ll buy it”

“How exactly did you get into the restricted files, General?” Hank wondered as dozens of restricted PPDC files flew across the screen

“I hacked your mainframe on my first day here,” Astra explained, she smirked “you didn’t really think that I’d blindly follow you into the mouth of hell, now did you?” she turned back as the computer chirped “ah, here we go,” she pulled up a series of time lapse photographs, where a group of people quickly erected scaffolding around a fallen Kaiju and stripped it down to the bones, leaving only the skeleton behind. Astra tapped a few keys and the image zoomed in on a lone figure who was watching the dissection from a distance, a woman in a long red dress “this is ‘Roulette’,” Astra explained “she runs the entire Kaiju black market from here to Alaska”

“After the UN cut our funding, I made a deal with her,” Hank picked up “in exchange for exclusive rights to all Kaiju remains here in National City she would turn over some of those remains to us for study”

“That was you?” Alex asked

“Desperate times call for desperate measures” he shrugged

“I met her a few times up in Alaska,” Astra picked up “she runs her operations from here in National City from somewhere in the Bone Slums”

“Right,” Hank nodded “General Inze, take Mr. Schott with you and go see Roulette, don’t tell her why you’re there, but offer her whatever she wants in order to get a Kaiju brain”

“Uh, you want me to go with her?” Winn pointed at Astra, looking worried

“Yeah, come on,” she grinned and wrapped an arm around his shoulders “it’ll be fun”

******

**National City, the “Bone Slums”**  
**2200 hours**

It was raining as Astra and Winn made their way through the densely packed streets of National City’s Bone Slums—dilapidated neighborhoods that either sprung or were rebuilt in and around the skeletal remains of dead Kaiju, despite the contaminated nature of the surrounding land. National City’s Bone Slums were made out of the bones from a Category 2 Kaiju codenamed ‘Kryptonite’, which had been killed by Kara and James during _Sentinel Gambit’s_ first deployment

“OK,” Astra held up the crumpled card in her hand, which displayed a simple symbol “let’s see, it should be somewhere around here”

“Hey” Winn nodded to a nearby wall, holding up a UV light he waved it over the wall, the same symbol appearing under the UV light but not under the streetlamps

“Smart,” Astra noted as she looked up at the building in question, an antiques shop “what will they think of next?” she muttered as she pushed the door open, dragging Winn with her. Inside the room was dark and cluttered, various items were scattered around in random, haphazard fashion “stick close” Astra warned as they slowly made their way through the room

“Psst!” they both froze at the whisper in the dark “you want to buy some Kaiju bone powder?” the voice asked as its owner, a rather unsavory-looking man came over

“Bone powder?” Winn echoed “uh…no, no,” he blinked and shared a confused look with Astra “why, why would I want that?”

The man grinned lewdly “It’s very good for male potency,” he boasted, he gave Astra the once over “use it myself everyday”

“I’ll just bet,” Astra drawled, a look of disgust on her face “where’s Roulette?”

The man smirked as he went over a shelf on the wall and rested his hand on a jar “You want to see Routette?” he asked “OK,” he turned the jar, there was a deep _thump_ as the wall slid away, revealing a large laboratory of sorts “good luck” the creep called out as Astra and Winn marched in…

******

Meanwhile, back at the Shatterdome, Susan Vasquez reached for her mug of cold coffee; her hand had just closed around the handle when an alarm began to sound. Turning, she watched with a growing sense of horror as the seismograph picked up a big reading

“Oh no” she muttered as the computers chirped

“ _Movement in the Breach,_ “ the computer announced dispassionately “ _dilation index, Category 4. Two signatures rising, Double event_ ” as the monitors picked up two Kaiju signatures emerge from the breach and head on a direct course for National City…


	6. Double Event

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double event, double update! Enjoy :=)

******

“Oh my god…,” Winn whispered, he let out a giddy laugh as he tried to take in the scope of the place “oh, this place is just…is that a lymph node from a Category Two? And is a skin louse?” he demanded as a worker walked by, carrying a large—still moving—insect the size of a Jack Russell terrier “I didn’t know you could keep them alive,” Winn exclaimed “they usually just die the second the Kaiju does”

“You can keep them alive if you soak them in ammonia,” a woman’s voice suddenly said. Turning, Astra tugged Winn protectively closer as the woman stepped forward with a click of high-heels, the long red dress she wore rustled as she slinked forward, a large, serpentine tattoo wound its way down her body from her shoulder. Stopping in front of the two newcomers, she smirked “well, well, Astra Inze, it’s a been a long time,” she purred “where was it the last time we met? Manila?”

“Juneau, Alaska,” Astra corrected “you put a bullet in my leg”

“You put a bullet in mine,” the woman countered “bygones?”

“So…I take it you guys know each other?” Winn questioned carefully

“Meet ‘Veronica Sinclair’,” Astra introduced “better know as ‘Roulette’.” she introduced as Roulette gave Winn the once-over

“Who’s the little guy?” she wondered

“He’s with me,” Astra answered “we need a brain”

“A brain?” Roulette echoed, she smirked “now, why would you want a Kaiju brain? It’s impossible to get at; the skull plate is so dense---”

“…that by the time you drill through it, the brain’s rotted away,” Winn finished “we’re talking about the secondary brain, the one that helps a Kaiju move around” he explained

“They have two brains?” Astra asked

“Yeah,” Winn nodded “they’re so big that they need a smaller, second brain in the pelvis to control the lower half of their body, like a dinosaur” he explained

“That’s creepy” Astra noted, as Roulette cleared her throat

“Now, why would you want a brain?” Roulette wondered again “every part of the Kaiju sells, even the excrement, but the brain,” she shook her head “too much ammonia to be of use to anybody. So, what’s the deal, Astra?”

But before either of them could answer, an alarm began to sound

“Is that…?” Winn began

“The anti-Kaiju alarm,” Astra noted grimly, she gripped Winn’s arm as she stared Roulette down “we’ll be back, and we’ll expect a brain waiting for us” she warned as she dragged Winn out of the building into the crowded and panicked streets….

******

“We need to get back to the Shatterdome!” Astra panted out as she dragged Winn through the crowded streets as civilians were ushered to the shelters and the bridges were shut down in a carefully coordinated series of events. Looking up, Astra suddenly stopped as she watched the display on a nearby jumbotron, which warned of _two_ Kaiju inbound for the city

“Two?!” Winn exclaimed “there’s never been two before!”

“Maybe that’s because no one ever _Drifted_ with one before!” Astra spat out, she gave him a hard shove “you said it yourself, the Kaiju have a hive mind. And when Jaeger pilots Drift, it forms a connection, a bridge, right?” he nodded “a bridge that goes _both ways!!_ ” she gave him another shove “ _maybe_ those two Kaiju are looking for the guy who just tapped their phone line” she suggested

“So what do we do?!” Winn demanded

“Get back to the ‘Dome” Astra answered grimly…

******

They made it back to the Shatterdome just before the port closed, both of them sprinting towards LOCCENT just in time to see a debriefing already in progress. Siding up to Alex, Astra felt herself calm almost instantly, as she saw Winn do the same with Lucy. Looking back, Astra could see Kara and James were already suited up in their drivesuits, while two other women who she didn’t recognize were wearing the colors of _Silver Banshee_

“The Breach was exposed at 2230 hours,” Susan Vasquez explained “two Kaiju, both Category Fours, were detected. Codenames: ‘Livewire’ and ‘Reactron’. They’ll reach National City within the hour”

“The city is already being evacuated,” Hank picked up, he nodded at Lucy and Winn and the two women who Astra assumed were Leslie Wills and Siobhan Smythe“ _Intrepid_ , _Banshee_ , you’ll be on point, hold the Miracle Mile,” he instructed as he turned to Kara and James “ _Sentinel_ , I want you to stay back and hold the coast. We need you to deliver that bomb; we cannot afford to lose you. So _only engage as a last resort_ ,” he nodded to the room at large “let’s move people!” he barked out. As the room burst into a flurry of activity, he paused and approached Alex and Astra, fixing them both with a hard stare “you two, you’re staying put” he stated…

******

In what seemed like seconds _Sentinel Gambit_ , _Intrepid Tangent_ , and _Silver Banshee_ had been brought on-line and were now each being carried into position by four heady-duty helicopters

“ _Intrepid Tangent in position,_ ” Lucy reported “ _disengaging transport_ ” at the flick of a switch, the cables supporting the Jaeger were disconnected and the Jaeger dropped feet-first into the bay, quickly straightening up to its full, massive, height

“Sentinel Gambit in position,” James reported “disengaging transport” the same procedure repeated itself with _Gambit_ and the Mark-5 Jaeger dropped down several hundred feet away from _Intrepid_ and _Banshee_

“Sentinel is holding the coastline,” Kara reported “beacon is on” flexing her fingers in the drivesuit’s gloves (which made the Jaegers fingers do the same), Kara exchanged a nervous look with James, as Hank came on the radio

“ _People, keep an eye out,_ ” he warned “ _these are the biggest Category Fours we’ve ever encountered, in both size and weight_ ” he explained

“Understood,” Kara radioed back “ _Intrepid_ and _Banshee_ are on point, we’re holding the coast”

“Got something!” James suddenly announced “movement at three o’clock to _Banshee’s_ position”

“ _We see it,_ ” Leslie Willis replied with a chuckle “ _time to bag our fifth kill_ she chortled confidently as the waters began to churn and froth. Suddenly one of the Kaiju---the larger of the two, ‘Reactron’—burst from the water. Looking like a cross between a frog, a gorilla, and a shark, the Kaiju slammed into _Banshee_ and sending it back and into a sprawl.

Staggering to it’s feet, the Jaeger charged, swinging out a fist to slam into the Kaiju’s jaw, staggering back, the Kaiju swiftly caught the second punch, before it suddenly reared back, spitting some kind of bright blue liquid at the Jaeger. The Jaeger stumbled as sparks flew from its armor, one of flood lights near its neck flickering out

“ _LOCCENT, we’ve been hit with some kind of acid_ ” Siobhan reported. Roaring, the Kaiju swung back an arm, aiming for the chest area, the weakened and compromised armor buckling under the blow, as the Kaiju managed to tear _Banshee’s_ protective collar off, exposing the conn-pod, which the beast swiftly crushed in one massive hand, killing Siobhan and Leslie instantly

As _Silver Banshee’s_ headless body spasmed and collapsed into the water, Winn and Lucy both nodded at each other

“LOCCENT, _Banshee’s_ gone,” Lucy reported “we’re moving in” she announced as _Intrepid Tangent_ stormed forward, catching Reactron by surprise, landing a good blow the back of its neck. Recoiling from the blow, Reactron dropped to all fours, spitting out more acid, this particular dose hit _Intrepid_ in the right knee and lower leg. Stumbling, Winn and Lucy struggled to keep upright, even as Reactron began to claw at the machine’s back

“We got water in the reactor!” Winn gasped out “LOCCENT! We need backup!”

At the controls of _Sentinel Gambit_ Kara scowled as she cued the comm.

“Hank! Lucy and Winn are in trouble!" she reported, even as Reactron began to swiftly dismember _Intrepid_ "we’re going in!” she announced

At the Shatterdome, Hank let out a snarl of frustration

“Negative, you’re orders are to hold the coastline,” he reminded them “we need you to carry that bomb”

James and Kara looked at each, the same thought passing through the Drift between them

“We can’t just sit here and watch them die,” James called back over the comm. “we’re moving in!” he proclaimed as they began to march the Jaeger forward, the machine quickly reaching its top speed as it's rear jets propelled it into the air, slamming a fist down on Reactron’s back…

******

“Report!” Hank demanded

“ _Banshee_ is gone,” Susan reported “ _Intrepid_ is crippled, but both pilot’s vitals are strong and steady”

******

James and Kara grunted as Reactron swiftly recovered from the blow and backhanded the Jaeger back

 _That hurt_ Kara thought

 _I know_ James called back across the Drift. Regaining their footing, they held their left arm up, watching as the Kaiju got ready to fire off another blast of acid

“Deploy shield!” James called out

“ _Shield deployed_ ” the AI responded as a large shield quickly unfolded from the Jaeger’s arm, its edge and point honed to a razor sharpness. Blocking the incoming barrage of acid, they swiftly backhanded the Kaiju across the face, breaking its jaw, electric blue, glowing blood spilling out into the water and splattering across the Jaeger

“Ew” Kara mentally recoiled at the gore, which James chuckled at, even this many years in, she still got grossed out at how _disgusting_ fighting Kaiju was. They both tensed as the radar picked up movement at the rear, turning just in time to see the second Kaiju, ‘Livewire’, burst from the water and slam into them, knocking the Jaeger back, allowing Reactron to jump onto it’s back and began clawing at the armor, even as James and Kara managed to roll a shoulder under Reactron’s bulk and throw it off.

Looking like a cross between a squid and a snake, Livewire was aptly named, covered with dozens of electrified tentacles, which it swiftly wrapped around the Jaeger, sending a powerful surge of energy into it, releasing a massive electromagnetic pulse…

******

“What happened?” Astra demanded as the lights in the control room suddenly went out

“I don’t know,” Susan began to flick switches at random “damn it, that thing just released an EMP, everything’s fried”

“Winn was right,” Alex hissed “they’re adapting, that wasn’t a defense mechanism, it’s a _weapon!_ ”

“Now what?” Hank demeaned as Susan ordered various technicians around the room

“I don’t know, sir,” Susan answered “the Mark-5’s digital, everything’s fried,” she ran a frantic hand through her hair “all of the Jaeger’s, they’re all digital”

“Not of all of them, Hank,” Alex spoke up “ _Brave Omen’s_ nuclear, analog”

“Neither of you have any experience in Jaeger combat” Hank pointed out, looking between Alex and Astra

“My simulator score is fifty-one drops, fifty-one kills” Alex reminded him

“That’s in a _simulator_ ,” Hank reminded her “I’m not about to stake the lives of every person in National City on a simulator score!”

“That’s our _family_ out there,” Alex snarled “guess which one is more important to us?”

Hank slowly looked between the two women before he finally nodded

“Make sure you win” he snarled…


	7. Brave Omen

******

“Anything?” Kara asked as she tried various switches and controls within the conn-pod, wincing at how… _tingly_ she still felt after the shock

“No,” James answered “nothing, there’s no power

“Well, they’re right outside, we have to do something!” Kara exclaimed, watching as the two Kaiju cautiously circled the now-inactive Jaeger. With a growl, Livewire suddenly reared back and turned, quickly slicing through the water heading towards the city, while Reactron—possibly due to its injuries—continued to circle the Jaeger “hang on, I’m going to try something” Kara said, disengaging from the harness

“No! Don’t--!” James yelled, just as Reactron ‘gently’ nudged the Jaeger, the force of the blow sent Kara flying across the conn-pod to painfully collide with the wall “Kara!” disengaging from his own harness, James rushed over to her “you OK?” he asked as he helped her to her feet

“I think so,” she suddenly gasped and clutched her right arm “no!” she panted for breath “my arm”

“Easy, easy,” James gently helped her to her feet, both of them tensing as the shadow of the Kaiju fell over them “we need to get out of here,” James proclaimed, even as Kara began to stumble her way towards a supply locker “Kara!” he exclaimed

“James! Right now we’re the only thing standing between _that_ ,” she pointed out at the Kaiju “…and a city of more then ten million. I for one am not just going to just give up,” she turned, and tucking her injured arm in close, opened one of the lockers “now, we can either sit here and do nothing, or you can come with me and do something _**really**_ stupid with these flare guns”

James stared at her as she held up a flare gun, suddenly realizing her so-called ‘plan’. Logically, he should have said no. Logically, they should get the hell out of dodge. Hell, he should have just tied her up like a Christmas present, jumped off the top of the two hundred and fifty foot Jaeger and _swum_ back to the Shatterdome

But logic usually went out the window when it came to Kara, and despite himself, he found himself starting to smirk

“Oh, I can do stupid” he said…

******

Alex stiffened as she felt her Drivesuit lock into the harness as the conn-pod was secured, looking over at Astra she suddenly felt a tiny niggle of doubt worm its way into her mind. This was _real_ , the dim emergency lighting provided by the backup generators only served to heighten her unease. No simulator, no do-overs, no ‘I’m-sorry-sir-I’ll-do-better-next-time’, there wasn’t any ‘next time’ now, it was win or lose, live or die, and sudden realization that she and Astra were now the only thing standing between National City and complete and utter destruction by two thousand ton monster hit her like a ton of bricks.

But, looking at Astra and feeling the memories of her experiences in combat suddenly wash over her, and she suddenly felt calmer, focused, because they weren’t doing it to be heroes, they weren’t doing it for a parade, to get on some late-night talk show, they were doing it for one reason, and one reason only

Kara

“ _Initiating pilot-to-pilot protocol_ ” the AI reported

“ _Brave Omen_ , ready for the drop” Astra reported, and Alex took a breath as she felt the conn-pod drop down the shaft to connect with the main body of the Jaeger

“ _Coupling confirmed,_ ” Susan announced over the comm. as the conn-pod was locked into place “ _initiating neural handshake in five seconds…_ ”

******

James grunted as he climbed out of the escape hatch onto _Sentinel’s_ shoulder, Kara awkwardly following

“You OK?” James asked

“Yeah,” Kara grunted as she straightened up and surveyed the damage. The headless body of _Silver Banshee_ now lay half-submerged in the water, a few dozen feet nearby the severed parts of _Intrepid Tangent_ also lay half-submerged “I hope Winn and Lucy are OK” Kara murmured as she took note of the fact that _Intrepid_ conn-pod looked otherwise intact, despite the extensive damage done to the rest of the Jaeger, she could swear that she could still see movement in the parts of the Jaeger that were still connected to the main body and hoped that wasn't just wishful thinking.

A gust of air made her look over as Reactron loomed over her and James, clearly puzzling over the two tiny creatures before it.

“Here goes nothing,” James muttered “hey! Ugly!” he yelled, the Kaiju turned, now directly focusing its attention on them. Both raising the flare guns, Kara and James fired, the two bright red bolts of light hissing across the air to strike the Kaiju in the eye

“OK, bad idea. Really, really bad idea” Kara muttered as the Kaiju growled and hissed in clear pain. Roaring, it swung it’s arms up above its head, ready to squash them both, only to stop as a pair of searchlights flared in the night. Turning to face this possible new threat, Reactron hissed as _Brave Omen_ was flown into position by two Chinook helicopters.

As the transport cables were disconnected and the Jaeger dropped into the water, it straightened to face the Kaiju, shifting into a fighting stance, flexing its fingers in a clear _come and get it_ gesture…

******

“Here we go,” Astra breathed, she looked over at Alex “you thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked

“I’m in your head right now, I _know_ what you’re thinking” Alex snorted

Astra nodded, tensing as Reactron let out an ear-splitting roar

“For Kara” both women vowed as the Kaiju charged…

**Author's Note:**

> In the opening of the movie the film misidentifies the word 'Kaiju' as 'giant beast', actually it literally translates to 'strange beast' in Japanese, and is used in Japanese films like 'monster' is used in English, as a general word to describe some terrifying creature. Anywho, let me know what you thought


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